Don Pepe

The black salsa keeps us coming back — more than 7 years. Always consistent with traditional Tex-​Mex classics. Their baby back ribs are a nice surprise. Lunches are fast and a good value. We are hooked. Ask for Israel for your server.

Very good Mexican food! The restaurant was packed and me and my date still made it in an out in under an hour! The quality of the steak was fantastic and the prices and very reasonable for the amount of food you receive. I Will probably make this my goto Mexican restaurant.

While there are plenty of choices, Don Pepe’s is our favorite Mexican along 280. While both Don Pablo’s across the street near Taziki’s & Superior are good, they’re just too noisy & busy. Probably good for the bar scene.
We like the interior of Don Pepe’s with the faux tile roofing and all the dividers which limit noise & help privacy. My only complaint on the shrimp fajitas, why do they leave the tail on? I’m sure it’s easier to for them, but what pain. Either I eat them separate (then why order shrimp fajitas) or I cut the tail off. There were 8 shrimp, which equaled 2 per tortilla.

Probably a year ago Don Pepe raised their prices like crazy! It wasn’t uncommon for a lunch to cost over 50 $ for two. For months my wife and I didn’t eat here for that very reason. We have eat here a few times over the past recent months. They seem to have adjusted their prices back down. We were there for lunch today and to our surprise they have a new lunch menu! Prices were very reasonable. We both had lunch for under 20 $. My wife had a taco salad. She said hers was very good. I had a #10 on the lunch menu (steak burrito). The flavor was good but it came out cold. One thing hasn’t changed about Don Pepe, the service is slow! It’s worth a try, specially at lunch. Try the new lunch menu! Hope your food comes out hot!!!

Great food and great people. We’ve been regulars for almost 10 years and it’s our go-​to-​place to get some of the best Mexican food in Birmingham.

Always slow service an food portion is so small ! Taste ok

It’s cheap, but good Mexican. Sopapilla rocks. Chimichanga. Taco al carbon is good. Feliz cinco de mayo!

There was a time, well, it’s been about 30 years now when there were few Mexican food restaurants in Birmingham. I would say the entire restaurant scene was very thin.
Now, we have many really good restaurants and a plethora of Tex-​Mex restaurants. We have two in particular that we usually choose, but we are always looking for something else.
We have been to Don Pepe a number of times. The service is very good, and, the food is good. Now, it is not outstanding, but good. We have never had to wait for a table and the seating is more intimate than others in the area.
Both Chuy’s and Superior Grill are kind of like eating in a fish bowl. Both are very noisy and hectic and do not lend themselves to a peaceful meal with conversation. Don Pepe is much better in that regard, although the food is probably not as good as Chuy’s on a good night at Chuy’s. Also, you tend to have more mature and experienced waiters at Don Pepe.

Probably our favorite mexican style restaurant.

We’ve been coming here for years and the food has usually good (can you screw up Mexican food?). We were quite surprised tonight when we opened the new expansive menu, to find that they jacked their prices way up. Israel is our Server. We are a party of 7, three generations plus my 17 year old’s girlfriend, who’s birthday we are celebrating. Israel took our drink orders pretty quickly, and served them in a timely manner. For some reason, (maybe they were out of clean glasses?) he served my mother her juice in a styrofoam cup with a lid and straw. Awkward. We then waited 30 minutes before we could place our dinner orders, and then it was only after we asked the waiter if we could order. Once we finally got to order, our food arrived quickly and correctly. Our meals were the same as they have always been, with no discernible difference correlating to the 30% increase in prices. The chimichanga, my usual, costs 50% more than at Pablo’s across the street, and isn’t even served with guacamole. From now on, it’s Pablo’s for this family!

We have been dining at DPs since they opened. Very consistent. Very good. And, with a little coaching, the margaritas are tasty.
THE DIGS
Very well done. The guys who opened the restaurant years ago went the extra mile to do some things differently. There is a huge wooden carved bar with some interesting art above — life size+ iron horses! Cool, colorful Moravian star lights cover the ceiling. The tables and chairs are large, wooden and have almost a handcrafted feel about them. It’s not loud and doesn’t smell like table cleaner (like some other Mexican places do). Overall, very nicely appointed. Very comfy. We usually sit in the bar for dinner, and never have a wait, either at a bar table or the bar itself.
THE IMPORTANT STUFF:
The margaritas are good. Real GOOD. My favorite bartender, Robin (no, that’s not his REAL name!) has gone back to Mexico and we miss him, but Hernan has taken on the big responsibility, and after a couple of tries, with very specific instructions, my margarita is always JUST RIGHT when I order. They have cold, cold Victoria in the case as well! (Can’t go wrong with a cold beer, right) — Probably the coldest beer I have tasted in a Mexican restaurant … EVER.
I tend to order the same thing every time — just because it’s like comfort food — The Tacos al Carbon, which is 2 flour tortillas filled with their yummy steak and comes with rice, beans and salsa, lettuce, etc to fill it up with. I’m also a big fan of the taco salad — chicken with extra lettuce. The salad is PACKED with chicken! Both dishes are way too much for one to eat. In fact, most things I have seen come out of the kitchen are huge portions.
Their salsa is what makes them stand apart, and I’m pretty picky when it comes to salsa. They serve a roasted chipotle salsa, (
) which is spicy and smokey, along with the regular tomato salsa. The chips are always fresh and the chile con queso is really good too — The dish comes out with freshly made pico, cheese and jalapenos, separated, so you can make your own chip with as much jalapenos (for me a TON) as you’d like.
Overall, a great alternative to the run of the mill strip mall mexican place. Awesome food. Good margaritas. No cheesy décor. Very consistent and competitive prices!

Really nice dining space, with carved wood tables and cool light fixtures. There’s never been a wait when we’ve gone and service is very good and quick.
Prices are quite good as well, as they serve there lunch specials 7 days a week. You can get a good meal with really big portions for $ 6.00 or $ 7.00 a plate.
The salsa’s good and the chips are warm. Some dishes are better than others, but they’re all quite competent and the beans, and rice are always good. Certainly not the best Mexican food that I’ve ever had, but it’s still pretty good and is becoming our regular Mexican spot.

Excellent lunch spot. Great food at a reasonable price. The salsa is pretty good as well. My only wish is separate salsa bowls.

My boyfriend and I went to Don Pepe for dinner. We got there around 7pm on a Friday and didn’t have to wait.
The inside is very nice and while there was a buzz, it wasn’t too noisy. The service was pretty good. I didn’t have to wait too long for refills on my soda and a manager stopped by and checked on us.
The salsa was very good. The meal was good, too, but nothing overly special. My boyfriend had three steak enchiladas and the steak had a great marinade. I had the plate with four different enchiladas (chicken, beef, cheese and bean). They were good, but not outstanding. The beans and rice were standard fare. The only thing I had a problem with was the chips. They tasted like they had been fried in old oil.
The price is a bit on the high end for this type of place, but not by too much. We ended up spending less than $ 25 for two entrees and two sodas.
There is a Habanero’s in Chelsea that has cheaper food, better salsa, lower prices and better service. While I will give this place another try, it’s hard to compete with that!

Please ignore the 2-​star review. Don Pepe is a great place — it is a nice restaurant with nice atmosphere. There are lots of cheap restaurants with mediocre food. Don Pepe has great food, very nice atmosphere, and the prices are lower than several other nice Mexican restaurants in the area. We order the spinach quesadilla a la carte for my daughter all the time — it is only $ 3, it is huge, and she loves it!

Great Mexican restaurant. Always friendly with consistently good food. A favorite for the entire family.

I don’t go to Mexican restaurants for vegetarian meals, so I can’t speak to that, but I can say that everything else I have tried on the menu is awesome! Their beef tacos are excellent! Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and kid friendly. I will say that the fajitas do tend to come out a little crispier than I prefer, but all-​in-​alll, a great restaurant. Salsa is one of the best I’ve had.

Enjoy this restaurant for both lunch and dinner. Food always good. Here lately they have been out of kids menus but I won’t hold it against them.

I am not so sure about this place. It has a good atmosphere and pretty good salsa. I like the fact you get two types, one traditional you would find in most Mexican restaurants, and a smoky salsa. Both pass my test. And the chips pass the test as well.
It is a little pricey and the servings are decent. I do not really care for the combinations and to order a la carte is ridiculous here.
They have vegetarian fajitas on the menu, so I ordered it. It did not say what they entailed but the week before I ordered vegetarian fajitas at a competition near by and they were delicious! with asparagus, squash, etc…
Can I tell you the vegetarian fajitas at Don PooPoo’s were $ 9 and THE ONLY ITEMS WERE ONIONS AND PEPPERS. Really? Really? Not even a tomato? Or mushroom? I know you have spinach.
The manager is a really nice guy and when he walked by I showed him my «vegetarian» fajitas, and he looked at me like «yeah, what is your point?» I played it cool and did not even ask for something else or for it to be taken off the bill.
Needless to say, I have not been back.
The reality is, I’ve experienced better.

This is one of my favorite Mexican restaraunts. The steak fajita taco salad is great and so are the enchiladas.